Come Crash
by SoraGirl
Summary: Despite her feelings for him, Sora fears that having anything more than a platonic relationship with Tai is too dangerous. Will a lifechanging event on the way home from a soccer game also change her mind? R&R please! :D K plus for death :O


Author's Note: First Taiora in a long time, hope you like it :D Inspired by the song "Come Crash" by A.C. Newman.

Disclaimer: Don't own nothing :P

_Come Crash_

Sora sat in the passengers seat, carefully removing her shin guards.

"Your leg okay?" Tai asked. His voice was concerned, but his brown eyes remained patiently watching the road ahead of him.

"It's fine," Sora smiled, quietly wrapping one of her long socks around the width of her calf, careful that not a drop of blood hit Tai's car. She propped it up slightly on the glove compartment. "Good game," she mentioned casually. "That last one really should have went in."

Tai laughed slightly, "If only there was no goalie."

"If only," she sighed regretfully. The opposing teams goalie, a rather large, rather intimidating Chinese boy, had destroyed some of the most beautiful shots their team had put in.

"Looks like we finished just in time," Sora said as a light rain began to hit onto the windshield.

Tai flicked his windshield wipers on, "So, want to head straight home?" he questioned awkwardly.

Sora raised her eyebrow. They (along with the few other car owners on the team) were currently tailgating the coach back home. To pull off now would not only be rude and unexpected, but would almost definitely get them lost. Still, Sora humored him. "Where else would we go?"

Tai leaned his head to one side in a strange sort of shrug. "We could go out to eat or something…or maybe catch a movie."

"Well, it's getting pretty late," that much was true; the city was getting darker by the minute. She rifled briefly threw her jacket pockets. "And I don't think I've got any money."

"I…could pay for you," Tai stumbled.

"_Tai_," she said. Her voice was somewhere between warning and begging. "I thought we agreed…"

"It's so _stupid _Sora," he growled.

"It's not stupid, Tai. And you know that as well as I do." She said the words without wanting them to be true.

"_Sora_," he tried.

"No," she responded flatly. She hated arguing for a side she didn't want to win.

"_Why?_"

"I've already explained it to you." She didn't want to have to have this argument again. "Let's talk about something else."

"You can't just keep avoiding this. If you don't feel the same-"

"It's not that at all," she said. "It's just that-TAICHI!"

CO LOR NOISE BR

E AKIN G LIG H TIN G SCRE

A MINGC

RA CK ING

F

A FLAS HINGF LY ING

L

L YE L L I N GCR YING S I LE NCE.

dark.

"We'll need three more body bags," Sora heard someone say over the light whistling in her ears. She woke up slowly and let her ears and eyes adjust. All she saw was lights and all she heard was sirens.

"Your leg okay?" a voice spoke familiarly.

"Taichi?" she croaked, looking down at her leg. The sock was gone now, as was most of the skin.

The mustached black man gave an inquisitive look to his partner.

"Where…what…I…please…I…" Everything was so dark and loud and bright. She just wanted to understand. Her mind was working like a hamster on a wheel. She was running so hard and getting nowhere.

She began sobbing frantically. The two men stepped away.

"She's conscious, doesn't know what's happening," she heard the black man say. He was speaking to a tall, balding police man with a poncho on.

The man kneeled beside Sora as gently as he could. "Ma'am, my name Sergeant Grey. You've been in a car wreck."

She shook her head. No. No. She _hadn't_ been in a car wreck.

"I…" her mouth moved but no words came out. _Taichi?_ She mouthed. _James? Joey? _Where were they all?

"The others?" she whimpered finally.

They said nothing, but she knew from the look on their faces.

She turned to her side and vomited all that would come up.

"Ma'am, we really need to take care of that leg."

She shook her head fervently.

Sergeant Grey ignored her, signaling to the black man and his white partner to bring a stretcher to carry her to the ambulance.

"Please," she whimpered, but no one had the time to listen. "Please."

* * *

The boy had screamed a long time, but was finally subdued. It was the sort of scene one doesn't forget. 5 dead teens, 6 dead adults, one mangled baby and a bloodied survivor screaming and crying that he wouldn't leave them. They tried to tell him there was nothing he could do. They tried to tell him they did there best. But he was destroyed. A broken, bruised mess of tears. 

His injuries were minor. A few scrapes and bruises, a large gash on the head. Still, there was no doubt that in an accident like that, he would be sent to the ER. When it was clear his neck and back were fine, he sat in the corner chair, rocking unconsciously back and forth.

"Taichi Kamiya?" commanded a large balding police officer.

Tai looked over in acknowledgement.

"My name is Sergeant Grey. How are you doing?"

A bitter laugh was the extent of Tai's answer.

"Understandable. I was hoping, if you're up to it, you could explain to me what happened."

Tai shook his head. "Did anyone? Someone had to…"

Grey knew exactly what Tai meant, but didn't know the answer. He must have told a thousand people their loved ones had died. But this, this he had never had to do. He approached it as well as he could think to. That is, to avoid the truth as long as possible.

"It was a pile up, five cars involved. Yours was right in the middle."

Tai gave no response. Grey knew what he wanted.

"Several people died."

Tai felt his stomach lurch.

"Anyone…?"

"There was one other survivor; she's being treated."

He wanted so badly to cling onto hope that he didn't dare to ask anything further.

"Leg got ripped up pretty bad and had some ribs bruised, but she'll be fine, they think."

Tai bit his lip; he _had_ to ask. "Who…?"

"Takenouchi," he said. "Sora Takenouchi."

Tai had never felt so relieved and so guilty. Sora was alive. Sora would be fine. To him, it seemed like everything was all right in the world again, yet "several" people had died.

Now that he knew that Sora was okay, he asked the only question he could think of. "…Was it my fault?"

Sergeant Grey shook his head. "No. There was no way you could have stopped in time."

Tai nodded, but didn't believe him. "Can I see Sora?"

"I'll send a nurse for you as soon as they're finished with her."

Tai nodded again, unable to do anything else. The world around him was spinning, but Sora was alive, and that was all he needed to hold on to.

* * *

"Taichi," the voice was weak and pleading. Without a second of hesitation, he threw his arms around her. 

"Oh Taichi," she breathed, tears running down her cheeks. "I was so scared. They told me…"

"I know…" he whispered, squeezing her closer. "Sora…I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," she guaranteed. She winced slightly as he moved to sit.

"Your leg?"

"I can walk," she told him. "It would have been fine, but it was bleeding too much. They told me I'd be out by tonight."

"Your mom?" he asked. His parents had already been contacted and would be on the next flight in the morning.

She shook her head.

He nodded in acknowledgement.

She couldn't help the tears that began sliding down her face. He sat next to her, took her hand, and let his own tears run down.

* * *

They were asleep as soon as they reached the hotel room. Before Tai could stop her, Sora had curled onto a ball on the floor, her bandaged leg sticking out at some odd angle, and her ribs pinching into the floor. He tossed himself half on to the bed and closed his eyes. 

It was Sora who woke up last, though she'd been tossing and sweating for quite some time before. She'd manage to stay asleep for all but the last part of her nightmare. There she was again, except this time, she saw it all so clearly. And this time they guaranteed her that _everyone_ was dead.

She vomited three times before she left the bathroom. Tai was seated on the couch, TV on and eyes glazed.

She walked over to him as the 6 AM news flashed on. The anchor women's cheerful voice broke into it's trained octave for a serious piece.

"With the latest on the tragic accident in Miyazaki, here's Jin Lang, live at the scene."

The short Asian man with a microphone appeared before the torn wreckage of 5 cars.

"Good god," Sora whispered, as they eyed the wreck.

Tai shook his head, "We should be dead."

Sora stared silently at the mangled pile of metal.

There was no point in arguing with the truth.

* * *

The plane ride home was the last time the two saw each other until the funerals. 

"Taichi?" she had asked nervously from the other side of the phone.

"Sora," answered the soft voice of an older woman. "How have you been?"

"Fine," she lied. "Is Taichi available?"

"Sure, sweetie," Ms.Kamiya said, handing the phone to Tai with a mouthed "It's Sora."

"Hey," Tai answered. Ms. Kamiya, on her way to the grocery store, waved goodbye.

"Hey, Taichi."

A brief silence helped Tai realize what was going on.

"The funerals are today." Her voice seemed so distant on the other side of the phone.

"Yeah.."

He wanted to stop her.

"Tai-" she started.

He didn't.

"We should be with them."

"No."

"What do you mean no?" she bit back. As much as she wanted to be wrong; she knew she was right.

"Sora, obviously we shouldn't be. We're alive, aren't we?"

Sora went quiet, biting her lip.

"We were supposed to live, so we did," he stated bluntly.

"Is it really that simple?" she whispered. "Our friends are dead. _Twelve_ people are _dead_. _Why_ are we alive?"

"I guess destiny wasn't finished with us just yet. I guess there's something we have left to do."

"Maybe," Sora frowned.

Her insincerity launched him into the same speech he had used on himself. "Or maybe it was just our lucky chance; our second chance. Either way, it's nothing unless we use it."

"When did you get so wise, Taichi Kamiya?" The first traces of a smile Sora had had in days began to emerge.

"I had to have some way to convince myself we didn't belong in those body bags, or I would have never slept," he admitted.

"I'll see you today then?" The last thing she wanted was to go to those funerals alone.

"Of course," Tai promised. He would never shrug off an obligation like that.

* * *

Sora thought she had come to terms with the death of her friends in the past few days, but apparently she was wrong. She had never seen so many tears shed in her life, and hers were among them. Five of the most promising teens of their age all torn from the world on the same day. 

She had brought five flowers and placed one on each casket. She listened to every word in every sermon.

"I can't believe they're gone," she admitted, clutching hard onto Taichi and turning herself away from the tragedy. "_Why_?"

Tai shook his head. "There was nothing we could do."

They hugged every set of parent, who thanked them and told them how much it meant to see them there. But through every mind ran the same question. Why them? Why not _my_ child that was spared? But no one knew the answer.

And all the death and sadness went on for hours, until it looked like Sora would join the corpses, all worn and white from crying.

"Let's go," Tai said bluntly.

Her red eyes looked up to his. "Why?"

"Because we have to live. We owe it to them."

She nodded with an understanding she couldn't explain.

Together, they walked to the soccer field. She lay down on the ground, still wet from all the rain, and felt it in her hands. He lay down beside her and let the liquid seep into his white oxford shirt.

She closed her eyes and pretended the rain was still falling down.

"The last two minutes of the championship game. Takenouchi dribbling to net, back to Kamiya, to Takenouchi, and into the net!"

Taichi smiled, remember the goal particularly well. Most of the team had been sick for a week afterwards.

"I remember James was so covered in mud that day, his mom wouldn't let him in the car," Sora smiled. "I bet she regrets it now."

"No use in regretting," Tai pointed out.

"But there's so much to be sorry for."

"Fortunately, we have plenty of time to make it up."

Sora shook her head. "Do we? I'm sure James, Michael, and the rest thought the same thing."

"You can't live your life fearing death."

"But you _can_ live every day like it's your last."

Tai raised an eyebrow, Sora was always the one worried about the future, and consequences. Now, it seemed as if she wanted to blow them all to the wind. "What are you saying?"

She sighed. "I don't know, really. I wish I could have the courage to support my convictions."

Tai suddenly understood what she was talking about. "It's not like you'd be in it alone." He turned to her, resting a hand on her cheek.

She turned away as he approached, squeezing his hand in hers. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt…"

"I love you, Sora," he admitted, as if it could make a difference.

She started crying lightly again.

A roll of thunder clapped over them and the rain began to pour. He shielded her with a suit jacket that was already wet and together, they walked home.

When they reached their apartment building, Sora turned to her friend.

"I don't want to go home tonight." She knew her mother would be out on business and the thought of facing her cold, dark apartment alone was less than thrilling.

"You can crash at my place," he assured her.

A note on the refrigerator told Tai his family would be back before 10. He handed Sora some of his smaller clothes to change into, and prepared a place for himself on the floor.

"I'll take the floor," she insisted. "It's your house."

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed.

"I'm sleeping on the floor." It wasn't a statement, a question, or a request; it was a fact.

Tai knew better then to argue. "Then I'm blowing up the air mattress."

Sora smiled slightly as Tai made the floor as comfortable as a possible.

When he was certain the floor could become no more welcoming, he stood up, and brushed his hands on his pants. "Tired?"

She nodded. He squeezed her into a tight hug. "Goodnight."

Sora slipped onto the air mattress and covered herself with the sheets. Tai shot one last affectionate smile her way before turning off the lights.

The two lay in a darkened silence that felt the same as death, just as cold and lonely and apart. And she hated it. She hated that she lay on that mattress by herself while the boy she had loved and nearly lost slept in an almost empty bed. But there was too much to worry about, too many risks, too many potential problems. Or at least, that's what she had told herself before the accident.

But she had almost lost Tai. She imagined what it would be like, to have lived if he had died. As much as she hated to admit it, he was her world and to live on knowing that he had never known how much she cared about him would have been unbearable.

There was every reason against it. There were parents and friends and pressure and stress and school and soccer. And there was only one reason to do it.

Life is fragile. Life is precious, priceless, and expendable. If there was one thing Sora had learned since her near death experience, it was that every second of life was to be treasured. Who knows if you'd be around long enough to see the consequences. Life was now.

There was a slight ruffling of sheets and the moving of air beneath her. Tai pushed it off as Sora making herself comfortable on the floor. But in all the dark emptiness, he felt something warm sit on the side of the bed. He sat up in surprise, and Sora lay gently down beside him, her back to his stunned expression.

"Sora?" he asked, clearly stunned. What was she doing? Could she…?

"I love you too, Tai," she admitted, a hushed voice in a pitch-black room. "And I don't care if anyone gets hurt."

His glee was trapped inside his amazement. Only hours ago, she had confirmed what he always hated and she had always swore. "But…why?"

She turned around and guided her fingers to his lips and told her mouth to follow. She kissed him with everything she had had and had held back. "Because we have to live."

She slid back down, leaving him stunned, as her tired eyes closed.

Without another word, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently on the forehead. For the first night since the accident, they slept..

* * *

It was almost a month before they got back in the car again and only by necessity. Only by their repeated motto; excuse; reason: "We have to live." 

It was a play they both wanted to see, with no way to get there. Mr.Kamiya confidently gave Taichi the keys to the car. They left dressed in there best.

It wasn't supposed to rain that day. Tai wouldn't confess to it, but they had checked the weather forecast all week, and Sora had too. Clear skies all week, it promised.

But some things can't be stopped. 12 people had died on that rainy Saturday a month ago, and two had managed to get way. A slip in fate, a break in sanity, and it had to be fixed.

In the hotel they had once stayed, the TV played to a vacant audience in the lightless living room, brief flashes of changing color were the only rays thrown across the dirty couch. "Two teens were killed in a car accident earlier today when their vehicle ran off the road. Both victims were only 18 years old," the woman spoke. "The exact cause of the accident is still unknown."

_Fin._

Reviewers are showered with candy, love, and appreciation :D


End file.
